\u2018Never happened before\u2019: Storm launch bold new vision in scary sign for rest of NRL<\/a><\/p>\nSt George Illawarra halves recruit Daniel Atkinson, training alongside Clint Gutherson. Picture: InstagramSource: Supplied<\/p>\n
Atkinson said last month that he was intent on asserting himself in the halfback role. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want to guide the team around the park,\u201d Atkinson told Dragons Media. \u201cI want the kicking duties, I want everything that comes with it. <\/p>\n
\u201cYes, it comes with responsibility but as a kid you want to be in those moments, you want to be that guy that\u2019s there at the last minute. You\u2019re not going to get it right every time, that\u2019s part of learning, but I can tell you I\u2019ll put my hand up when those situations arise.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ennis is looking forward to seeing these young players continue to improve and become the future of the Dragons. He\u2019s particularly keen to see the Couchman brothers (Ryan and Toby) back in action in the pack, as well as second-rower Dylan Egan and lock Hamish Stewart. <\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t seen kids so invested, hardworking and love what you do \u2026 since we at the Bulldogs had Josh Jackson and Dale Finucane and David Klemmer and Josh Reynolds, and those type of kids come through,\u201d he said, with a rave review for a young lock who played 19 NRL games this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cHamish Stewart, he\u2019s very good. Any young kid that has the attraction from Brisbane, Penrith and Cronulla, you know you got a pretty decent one on your hands. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust the way he has applied himself to his training and just watching his ability and how he unlocks certain parts of our attack through that middle part of the field. It\u2019s very impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamish Stewart models the Dragons\u2019 Las Vegas Round 1 jersey. Picture: InstagramSource: Instagram<\/p>\n
An injury crisis last season forced coach Shane Flanagan to look to his youngsters, with local juniors showing a lot of promise. There is also a core of veterans who the Dragons will hope can find fresh legs next season. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some really good leaders there; (Clint) Gutherson, (Valentine) Holmes, Cook, these type of guys who have come back in motivated, good physical condition to attack the preseason and chase that improvement,\u201d Ennis said. <\/p>\n
Ennis said Flanagan and head of recruitment Daniel Anderson were working to fill out their roster with fresh talent before next season kicks off. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are still a few roster spots there,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are working hard together to fill those spots. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important they get the right people. It\u2019s not necessarily about what\u2019s quick and flashy, it\u2019s about long term, getting the right person there that\u2019s going to make the team and the club better.\u201d <\/p>\n
A pair of Test props, South Sydney\u2019s Keaon Koloamatangi and Penrith\u2019s Lindsay Smith, have emerged as signing options for the Dragons in the hope of taking their pack to a fresh level. <\/p>\n
Next season will be a defining year for the Dragons – and it will kick off in Las Vegas against the Bulldogs on March 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dragons have added a \u201chungry\u201d scrapper in halfback recruit Daniel Atkinson and the early signs are good…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[2095,64,63,689,192158,25907,190271,29045,4437,4467,192160,54493,192155,54323,68983,192159,4431,1809,29043,192156,117529,44402,59816,2623,4434,32917,39320,761,762,2627,673,2041,2067,158,677,187502,1614,192161,192157,95259,181420,42342,4583,85,4563,192162,2614,192154,19121,29646],"class_list":["post-348228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-america","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-boardroom-chaos","tag-canterbury","tag-dale-finucane","tag-daniel-anderson","tag-daniel-atkinson","tag-david-klemmer","tag-dragons-halves","tag-dylan-egan","tag-elite-talent-crop","tag-finals-appearance","tag-halfback-role","tag-halves-gamble","tag-hamish-stewart","tag-injury-crisis","tag-jonah-glover","tag-josh-jackson","tag-josh-mansour","tag-josh-reynolds","tag-kicking-duties","tag-las-vegas","tag-lindsay-smith","tag-michael-ennis","tag-missing-piece","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nevada","tag-new-south-wales","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-parting-ways","tag-premier-league","tag-rave-review","tag-recruit-daniel","tag-rising-stars","tag-roster-spots","tag-season-kicks","tag-shane-flanagan","tag-sports","tag-st-george-illawarra-dragons","tag-troubled-halves-mix","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-young-lock","tag-young-players","tag-young-stars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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